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A fluorescence microscopic study of the distribution of monoamines in the hypothalamus of the cat
Author(s) -
Poitras Daniel,
Parent Andre
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
journal of morphology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.652
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1097-4687
pISSN - 0362-2525
DOI - 10.1002/jmor.1051450402
Subject(s) - hypothalamus , biology , median eminence , stria terminalis , supraoptic nucleus , axon , monoamine neurotransmitter , anatomy , mammillary body , nucleus , diencephalon , arcuate nucleus , population , endocrinology , neuroscience , serotonin , biochemistry , receptor , demography , sociology
Three distinct groups of monoamine (MA)‐containing nerve cell bodies have been visualized in the hypothalamus and preoptic area of the cat by means of the Falck‐Hillarp fluorescence histochemical technique. First, numerous small‐sized catecholamine (CA) type neurons were disclosed within the ventral half of the periventricular area in the supraoptic and middle hypothalamic regions. The round to oval neurons of this medio‐ventral group were more especially abundant around the base of the third ventricle, within the arcuate and supraopticus diffusus nuclei. Numerous medium‐sized CA perikarya identified as the dorsal group , were also mapped out in the dorsal and posterior hypothalamic areas. Finally, a small population of both CA and serotonin (5‐hydroxytryptamine, 5‐HT)‐containing neurons was disclosed within the lateral area of the middle and mammillary hypothalamic regions. These multipolar or elongated neurons which compose the lateral group were lying either along the ventrolateral surface of the hypothalamus or around the ventrolateral aspect of the fornix. In addition to these three MA cell groups, a few cells displaying a fluorescence of the CA type were also visualized in the so‐called “dorsal chiasmatic nucleus” after α‐methyl‐dopa treatment. High density of CA axon terminals were found, on the other hand, in the external layer of the median eminence, in the dorsomedial, paraventricular, supraoptic and suprachiasmatic nuclei, and also within nucleus interstitialis of stria terminalis. In the present study, however, it was not possible to identify with certainty any concentration of 5‐HT axon terminals in the cat hypothalamus. Therefore, except for the lateral cell group which could be peculiar to the cat, the topographical distribution of MA nerve cell bodies and axon terminals in the hypothalamus of the cat appears similar to the morphological organization of the MA neuronal elements in the hypothalamus of the rat.